Cold shoulder

Commerce minister Anand Sharma was apparently quite upset over the cold reception he got in Varanasi,where he had gone to announce a Rs 6,000-crore package

Commerce minister Anand Sharma was apparently quite upset over the cold reception he got in Varanasi on Saturday,where he had gone to announce a Rs 6,000-crore package for debt-ridden weavers. The Union minister,who has been accustomed to red carpet treatment during his frequent visits abroad,was left stunned when he found there were no senior officials to welcome him at the Varanasi airport a protocol usually extended by the state to Union Cabinet ministers. To add to his discomfort,his car got stuck in a traffic jam and there was no police escort to ensure a smooth passage. But then Sharma should have expected such treatment from the Mayawati government,given that the Congress party was directly trying to poach into BSPs turf by wooing the minority weaver community.

The Kerala Effect

While the government is trying to push for opening up the multi-brand retail sector to foreign investment,the biggest stumbling block seems to be the opposition within. At the forefront of this opposition are Congress leaders from Kerala,largely due to the state units vehement protest against this move. As a result,senior Cabinet ministers like A K Antony and Vayalar Ravi have withheld consent. The Congress too has postponed taking a political call on the matter while Kerala Congressmen,in particular,see no point in all the urgency.

Courting Opposition

While the Ministry of Law and Justice has decided to push for getting Parliament to clear the Bill aimed at increasing the retirement age of judges of High Courts from 62 to 65 years in the ensuing session of Parliament,the Opposition may not play along. There are indications that the Opposition wants the government to also bring a law saying that retired judges wont be eligible for any post-retirement jobs. Unless the government is able to bring the Opposition around,the passage of the retirement age Bill remains uncertain as it is a constitutional amendment Bill which requires the support of the Opposition too. The government is learnt to have initiated back-channel discussions with the Opposition to try and convince them to get on board.

Staging a Comeback

This is one appointment that took the bureaucratic universe by storm this weekend,particularly the IPS officers. K M Singh,a 1968-batch IPS officer who retired last year as Member of the National Disaster Management Authority,has got re-selected to his old post for a second term of five years. From the hundreds of the applications for the post,Singh managed to outdo all competitors and bag this coveted Minister of State-rank job. The grapevine has it that Singh managed to successfully play his Bihar resident card with Home Secretary R K Singh. Most of last year,Singh had made an unsuccessful bid for an extension and it seemed he had faded from the scene until this surprise comeback. In the meantime,he is learnt to have also bought a home close the NDMA office.

Patronage Politics

Union minister Virbhadra Singhs son Vikramaditya recently got elected as Himachal Pradesh Youth Congress president,yet again reminding many in the Congress of Rahul Gandhis famous quote about his political motto to do away with the role of family,patronage and money. IYC office-bearers sought to counter this impression citing the case of Rizwan Arshad,the new Karnataka YC chief,who is an ordinary youth. He defeated Union minister Mallikarjun Kharges son Priyank who ended up as vice-president. As it was,Arshad turned out to be no neo-convert as he was the NSUI national general secretary during the presidentship of Meenakshi Natarajan who was recently given charge of the Indian Youth Congress organisational elections. Outgoing Karnataka Youth Congress president Krishna Byregowda had also put in his might behind Arshad who was projected as Rahuls candidate.